


Close Quarter Standby

by Acacia_Mac



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Abuse, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Canon, Crossover, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Sequel, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-07-10
Updated: 2004-07-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 16:59:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12063252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acacia_Mac/pseuds/Acacia_Mac
Summary: Part three of the Manditory Refusal Series : Picks up where AC ends -- Brian and Mikey go on their first real mission with Justin as their guide.  Can they all come out of it in one piece?  Will Brian discover Mikey's secret?





	Close Quarter Standby

**Author's Note:**

> Note from IrishCaelan, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Brian_Justin_Fanfiction_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in September 2017. I posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/bjfic/profile).

“Brian, Mikey… welcome to the team.” Justin stated with a small smile. “I'd like you to meet the others who are joining us. This is Jasmine Kwong and Trent Hammett. They are transfers from the Farm. Jasmine, Trent . I'd like you to meet Brian Kinney and Michael Novotny.” 

“Hey,” Trent stated not looking up from his hands. 

“It's a pleasure.” Jasmine added, hitting Trent to get his attention. “This your first mission?” She asked. 

Brian smiled slightly as he moved to sit down at the conference table. Mikey moved in beside him. “The first real one I've been on. I don't count Intel gathering a mission.” 

Vance looked at the group and nodded. “Well I'll just leave you all in Justin's capable hands. Good Luck, everyone.” With a wave he was out the door, leaving the group alone. 

Justin pulled out four PDA's from the bag at his feet and began to hand one to each member of his team. “The mission is fairly simple. At least your parts in it is. We received information on a new group forming. At first we thought nothing of it, but over the past couple of weeks they have grown in size.” Justin pulled out a picture of a crashed airplane and laid it on the table. “Flight 473 from Lisbon to Paris crashed about two hours into the flight. We discovered that this group of kids hacked their way into the navigation systems and the they didn't even realize they were heading directly into the mountain side until it was too late.” 

“So we infiltrate the group?” Trent asked. 

“I have already been in contact with the group for about a week now, and it looks like I will get in fairly well. Jasmine, and Trent will try and get in with the other group. Jasmine will be posing as Trent 's girlfriend. Trent you will try to get close to Katrina. She's the sister of the leader of the group. Get close to her… see what she knows. They have to get their funding from somewhere. You need to find out where.” 

“What do we do?” Mikey asked. 

“The two of you are a couple. You are also are foster parents to some of us… degenerates. Currently you have two brothers and another kid in your custody.” Justin told them. “All you need to do is act like the caring couple and foster parents that you are… and get close to the parents of the kids. See if any of them know anything about this – if any of them are involved in any way.” Justin nodded toward the PDA's in front of them. “The profiles are in there. I suggest you review it… lock it away in your memory banks. We will be boarding a plane at six tomorrow morning. Trent and Jasmine will head directly to the location, while the rest of us will be heading to the training facility.” 

“Back to school, huh?” Jasmine stated rolling her eyes. “I didn't like it the first time.” 

“Neither did I.” Trent replied. “Maybe this time I can graduate.” 

Justin looked over at Brian, giving the older man a small smile. Neither mentioned the hell that Justin went through, and Justin decided that it didn't matter. Justin stood from his seat and moved toward the door. “If you have any questions, I'll be in an office down the hall verifying some last minute details.” 

Sitting in the office, Justin looked over his notes, and closed his eyes. He wondered how Brian and Mikey would take the news… how they would react to the other members on the team. He knew that Brian would be pissed, but he hoped that it wouldn't be too bad. He hoped that Brian would forgive him. 

Silently he cursed Section, and the Center for once again putting him in this position. For once again, lying to him and making his life a living hell. He only hoped that they could all get out of this in one piece, and that one day he would be forgiven for the lies he were about to tell. 

The thought alone that Brian and Mikey had to pretend to be a couple caused bile to rise up within him. He prayed for Mikey's sake that he wouldn't do anything stupid. 

~~~~~~~~ 

Justin led Brian and Mikey through the long hallway and deep into the building. “This is Section 8, otherwise known as the Farm. For the next four weeks you'll get a crash course on systems, defense, and weapons. We're on a tight schedule so we will fit as much training in as we can.” 

“How much time should we have?” Mikey asked from his place next to Brian as they were lead into a large room with bunks on either side of the room. Both men saw about three others in the room, playing a game of poker. 

“Normally, Center Operatives for this type of mission have at least one year of formal training, then specialized training after that. But since our numbers are down, we have to make due with what we have.” Justin told them. Standing off to the side of the room, Justin pointed to two beds. “Wish the accommodations were better but as recruits… well it's the best we have.” 

“Recruits?” Brian asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Justin shrugged, not wanting to look into Brian's eyes. As much as he would have loved to have had Brian in the same room as him, Nikita and Mr. Jones wouldn't allow it. He was told to treat them as he would treat any other recruit. The only problem Justin saw was the two extra members of the team. He wasn't sure how Brian and Mikey would take their presence and he wasn't sure how to handle the situation. And with all the team members in the same room for the next month… Justin only hoped that they all survived. 

“As far as everyone is concerned, you took Hunter away from his crazy mother.” Justin told Mikey, handing the man a small PDA. “Brian, you are getting away after being fired from Vanguard.” 

“Fired? Really?” Brian asked as he took the other PDA from Justin. “This should be interesting.” 

“What?!” Mikey yelled. “You did this didn't you?” 

Justin only stood there with a blank expression on his face. “That was decided by someone higher than me. I didn't even know until this morning. If you have a problem, take it up with Nikita.” Justin informed Mikey. He knew that the other man would be shocked and visibly upset. Not that Justin could blame the man. He would feel the same way if he were in Mikey's position. As it was, Justin had his own ideas as to why Hunter was placed in there. 

Jimmy Crayton, or Hunter as everyone in Pittsburgh knew him as, was brought into Section four years ago. It was Justin's belief that he was placed in with Mikey, Ben, and the rest of the gang, in order to make sure that Justin was kept in line. To keep an eye on Brian and the others. He hated it, but he also knew that there was nothing that he could do to change it. 

Justin watched as Brian read over the information on Mikey's PDA, and the betrayal began to show on the older man's face. Justin turned to leave the men alone, he had things he had to do. Before Justin could get far however, Brian was there gripping his arm tightly. “Want to explain this to me?” Brian stated as he held out the PDA. 

Justin led Brian through the halls toward his room. Closing the door behind them, Justin leaned against the wall facing his lover. “I didn't know. I swear.” 

“Then what the hell is this?” Brian yelled, holding out the PDA. 

Justin took a deep breath and shrugged. “I have an idea, but frankly, it makes me sound like those damn conspiracy freaks.” Justin saw that Brian was waiting for an answer, so Justin decided that he might as well fill Brian in on what he thought. “Okay, but you won't like it.” 

“Go on,” Brian stated as he sat down on Justin's bed. “I'm waiting.” 

Justin pulled a chair from behind on of the desks and sat down. “The only thing that makes sense is that they placed him there to keep an eye on you and Mikey. Maybe me.. I don't know. But they wanted to make sure that you and Mikey were following the rules. That Mikey wasn't going to put any of us in jeopardy.” 

“That's fucking bullshit.” 

“It's the truth. I wouldn't put it past them.” Justin stood and started to pace, thinking about the situation they were in now. “It's the only thing that makes sense.” Leaning up against the wall once again, Justin began to list everything that they knew. “First off, you joined.. voluntarily. Mikey however, found out. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nothing is really known about him and what we did find out wasn't very good. So we have to keep an eye on him.” 

“What are you talking about? Mikey is the least dangerous person I know.” Brian said sounding angry. 

Justin ran his hands through his now short hair. “You don't know everything about your friend, Brian. There are some things that Mikey has done… is doing that you have no knowledge of. Things that… well that are suspicious.” 

“So you're telling me that one, Mikey is some bad guy, and two that Hunter was sent to keep an eye on us… namely Mikey?” Brian stated shaking his head in disbelief. Justin only shrugged in reply. “This is fucking crazy.” 

Justin sat down in the chair and sighed. “I can't explain it, Brian. But you know how they operate. And as for Mikey… I told you before that you have to ask him.” 

“This is fucked.” Brian said running a hand through is hair. “Any other surprises I should know about?” He asked looking right into Justin's eyes. 

Justin felt uncomfortable but refused to show it. He knew that this was his change, but he wasn't sure how to broach the subject. Deciding to just say it, and deal with the consequences, Justin looked Brian in the eye. “ Hobbs is one of the ‘foster kids.'” 

Brian's response was immediate. “This just keeps getting better and fucking better every damn minute. Who decided this and when?” 

“I did, and a while ago.” Justin explained. “I think he's ready – in part – and it will help with his training. I'll be able to gauge where he's at, and what we need to work on. He'll be strictly supervised, and evaluated. He's the type of person we need on this mission.” 

“What, a homophobic murderer?” 

“Attempted murderer.” 

Brian cursed, standing and moving through the small room. “Please tell me that you're joking.” 

Justin only sat there and looked at his lover. “What do you want me to say? Section protocol states that at a point in training, a material will be required…” 

“Don't fucking quote Section crap to me. I don't have to follow their damn rules.” Brian yelled shaking his head. He couldn't believe that Justin was trying to justify Hobbs ' presence. 

“Well I do!” Justin yelled back at him “God, you still don't understand do you? After all this time. You still think that I have a fucking choice, that I have a chance to do something about this mess! You think that I am someone who has any feelings? I am someone who died six FUCKING YEARS ago. I'm someone who has had any form of emotion and compassion tortured out of him – piece by bloody piece!” 

“Justin.” Brian quietly stated, suddenly realizing that he had opened a part of Justin that had been hidden – buried – for six years. He wasn't sure how to deal with it. 

Justin closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. When he calmed himself down – placing his anger back into the hole he had buried it in – he looked at Brian with a blank stare. “You should go back and get some rest. We start at 5 in the morning.” 

Brian knew that he had just hit a brick wall – that he would get nowhere now. The small opening he had been granted, the one that had given him a glimpse into the old, fiery Justin was gone. 

Brian turned and walked back toward his quarters. He felt a loss that he never had before. For the first time, he felt like Justin was really dead. 

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Justin sat at a long table going over the current information that Jason had gathered. Glancing up he saw Hobbs sit down across from him, handing him another PDA to review. “That jack-off Peter may cause a problem.” 

“How so?” Justin asked picking up the small device and looking over the information. “So he has been in jail, he could blow my cover out of the water.” Justin looked up at his material and sat back in his chair. “Take care of it. Make it look like a drug deal gone bad. No one will be the wiser, not with his criminal history.” 

“You want me to handle it?” Hobbs asked. He had never killed anyone before, and he wasn't sure if he could. “I'm not ready.” 

“You're as ready as you will ever be. If you don't think you can do it, I will find someone else to handle it. But I will tell you this, either you take out Peter or we take you out. Which will it be?” Justin pulled a small gun from his holster and placed it on top of the table. “You know the rules, Chris. Either you do it, or you don't. One way or another Peter will be dead by the end of the day. If I have to get someone else to do it, it could get ugly. I would prefer someone I can trust to do it right. Nice, clean, no witnesses. Understand?” 

 

Hobbs looked down at the gun and swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. 

“What's wrong? You can attack someone from behind with a bat, but you can't shoot someone? Where is there a difference? At least with a gun, you can be farther away, you don't even have to look in the person's eyes.” Justin went on, slight anger in his voice. “I have put aside my hatred of you to do my job. I have put aside my desire to kill you so that maybe you could become someone. I actually was starting to like you, as an operative, and maybe a little as a human being. If you can't do this, then you are the same asshole I knew you were. You hadn't changed on bit. You are still the same scared little closet case I always figured you were.” 

Justin knew he was pushing things, but he had to prove to the Powers that Be that Chris could do this. He had wanted Chris to become one of them, the man had the ability and the chance to be one of the best. All he had to do was take that step. He hadn't lied when he told Chris that he was beginning to admire the man, he did. Chris had changed in the years since high school, and Justin was beginning to admire the man before him. In the time since his arrival into Section, Hobbs had been a solid fixture within the walls. He was well liked, and Justin didn't want to see him mess up. He wanted Chris Hobbs to succeed. 

As much as he hated it, he knew he had to get Chris to do this. It was never easy to make your first kill, but once Chris got through this, then he would be off the list of potential cancellations. No matter how much Justin hated Hobbs , he knew that it was in the past. This was the now, and Hobbs had the potential for great things. When Hobbs reached across the table to take the gun in his hand, Justin felt a part of himself die. No matter how much he wanted to succeed, he also knew that the other man would lose himself in this act. The man he had come to know as Chris Hobbs would die, just a little bit. He could only pray that it would all turn out well. No matter what Justin would be there when it all went down. He would be there to either help bring Chris back from the horror, or to kill him. 

He hoped that he didn't have to pull the trigger.


End file.
